European youth are not ready to defend themselves countries with arms in hand if predictions of a Russian attack on NATO come true. This is shown by sociological surveys, the results of which were analyzed by Politico, cited by Focus.
The authors of the publication note that only last week the West marked the 80th anniversary of the landing of Western troops in Normandy during the Second World War. The Allies paid tens of thousands of lives to drive the Nazis out of France and the Benelux countries. And these were young men who resolutely entered into armed struggle, despite the great odds of dying in battle.
But against the background of Joe Biden's statements about the "greatest generation” that won World War II, European youth are directly stating their unwillingness to risk their lives in the event of a Russian invasion of their countries.
A survey in the UK last week showed that only 29% of Britons aged 18 to 24 would at least verbally defend the country against an invasion. Continental Europeans are no more warlike or patriotic either. According to surveys, if their country ends up at war, only 32% of Europeans are ready to go to war.
Even in the United States, the most militarily powerful nation in the world, a 2022 survey found that only 55% of Americans would take up arms in the event of full-scale war. It is significant that among the older generation (50-64 years) there are many more people ready to fight than among the younger generation (18-34 years).
"This lack of patriotism can be attributed to a variety of reasons: a growing distrust of governments; weariness and disgust with misrepresented "eternal wars" ending in defeat; a general loss of confidence in Western values; a sense of agency, which young people now have in abundance compared to their predecessors; and conservatives would undoubtedly add to the list an over-apology for the West's past crimes and a failure to be proud of what the West has actually done, Politico wrote.